11. What are
the conditions to be fulfilled by the person or family (two
spouses) willing to adopt?According to
article 5, paragraph 2 of the Ordinance of the Executive
no.25/1997, the following conditions are to be fulfilled:a)the person or
family willing to adopt must have full capacity of
expressing their will. This condition is to be inferred
also from the provision requesting the consent which,
must be expressed by a person with full capacity of
expressing it, in order to be valid.b) the difference
of age between the adopter and the adoptee must be of at
least 18 years. This condition is justified by the fact
that the difference of age between the adopter and the
adoptee must be similar to the usual difference of age
between the biological parents and the child.According to
article 5, paragraph 2 of the Ordinance of the Executive
no.25/1997: "for well-grounded reasons, the Court
may approve the adoption even if the difference of age is
less than 18 years" (ex. in the case when the
adopter raised the adoptee; in the case when a married
woman under 18 of age is willing to adopt a child,
together with her husband).The person having
full capacity to manifest its will may adopt regardless
of gender, nationality, race or religion.The adopter may be
married or single and may or may not have another child.Adriana
Paraschiv

12. Is there
a maximal age limit for the adopter?Usually, the
maximal age of the adopter is not limited and may not
constitute grounds for a negative decision of the Court
regarding the conclusion of the adoption, except for
special cases, that is when the purpose of the act of
adoption cannot be served.Adriana
Paraschiv

13. Which is
the maximal age up to which a child can be adopted?According to
article 2, paragraph 1 of the Ordinance of the Executive
no.25/1997: "the child can be adopted up to the
point when he/she is considered legally capable to
express his/her manifest will ".Usually, the above-mentioned
capacity is gained at the age of 18, when the person
becomes legally of age or, in the case of a woman,
through marriage, that is at 16 or 15 years of age. The
minimal age for marriage is of 18 years, in the case of
men, and 16 years, in the case of women; a woman may
marry at 15 if she has the legal approval of the parents.
The capacity of manifesting will gained through marriage
is maintained even if the marriage ends through a divorce
or through the death of the husband.Therefore, if the
other conditions requested are fulfilled, the adoptees
can be: the men under 18 of age, the unmarried women
under 18 of age, as well as the underage women till the
date of their marriage.The condition of
the lack of capacity of manifesting will is justified by
the purpose and meaning of the act of adoption.There is, however,
an exception to the above mentioned rule. It is specified
by article 2, paragraph 2 of the Ordinance of the
Executive no.25/1997 , in the sense that the person who
gained full legal capacity of manifesting will may be
adopted only by the person or family who raised him/her.By "raising"
in what concerns the legal vocabulary of adoption issues
one must understand not only material support during the
period when the child is under age, but also the
existence of relations between the adopter and the
adoptee similar to those existent between the biological
parent and the child. In order to exclude from the start
the case of occasional care, the adopter must have raised
the child over a continuous and extensive enough period
of time.Adriana
Paraschiv

14. Which are
the competent special bodies regulating adoption issues?The most important
bodies having legal prerogatives in matters of adoption
and which supervise the legal and valid conclusion of any
adoption are:- The Specialized
Public Service for Child Protection- The Commission
for Child Protection- The Romanian
Committee on Adoptions together with a series of
authorized private organizations.Adriana
Paraschiv

15. Which are
the prerogatives the Commission for Child Protection can
exert in order for the adoption to be considered valid?First of all, the
Commission for Child Protection must verify and certify
the existence of material conditions and moral guarantees
offered by the potential adopters, conditions and
guarantees necessary for a healthy upbringing of the
child to be adopted. If these conditions and guarantees
exist, the Commission issues a certificate according to
which the person or family may adopt. (article 6,
paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Ordinance of the Executive no.25/1997).According to
article 9, paragraph 9 of the Ordinance of the Executive
no.25/1997, the Commission may entrust the child in view
of the adoption, to the person or family that received
the certificate. At the end of the period throughout
which the child was entrusted to the person or family,
the Commission for Child Protection decides upon issuing
the positive recommendation; the issuing of this
recommendation legally expands the period of the
entrusting, up to the approval or the rejection of the
adoption request by the competent Court (article 9,
paragraph 6 of the Ordinance of the Executive no.25/1997).Adriana
Paraschiv

16. Under
what conditions and within what time-span is the
certificate for entrusting the child to the person or
family willing to adopt issued by the Commission for
Child Protection?The necessary
certificate is issued upon the request of the person or
family willing to adopt. It is issued within 90 days from
the registration of the request, on the grounds of the
reports and recommendations of the specialized public
service for Child Protection from the county or from a
district of Bucharest, or of a private authorized body. (article
6, paragraph 3 of the Ordinance of the Executive no.25/1997).The Commission may
issue the certificate only if the above-mentioned reports
certify that the person or family willing to adopt
presents the moral guarantees and material conditions
necessary for a healthy upbringing of the child.Adriana
Paraschiv

17.
Is adoption always preceded by the entrusting of the
child to the potential adopter?The rule is that
the adoption is concluded after the entrusting of the
child to the potential adopter. In the case when the
entrusting of the child has been decided, the file must
contain a copy of the original decision of entrusting (article
14, paragraph of the Ordinance of the Executive no.25/1997).However, there are
cases in which the adoption can be concluded without the
preliminary entrusting of the child, that is:a) when the
entrusting was not possible;b) when one of the
spouses adopts the child of the other spouse;c) the person or
family willing to adopt raised the potential adoptee;d) the adopters are
related, up to the 4th degree inclusively, to one of the
biological parents of the child.Adriana
Paraschiv<< PREV